What writing pointers do you rely on when drafting legal briefs?
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This week, we noted research that found that lawyers who used intensifier adverbs—such as “very,” “obviously,” “clearly,” “absolutely” and “really”—in their briefs were more likely to lose their appeal than lawyers who avoided them. The exception? If the judge reading the brief also writes with a lot of intensifier adverbs.
And this month, Bryan Garner, editor-in-chief of Black’s Law Dictionary, offered readers 10 tips for better writing. Among the tips: When writing a brief, summarize your conclusions up front. “An up-front summary … typically consists of three things: the principal questions, the answers to those questions and the reasons for those answers,” Garner wrote.
So this week, we’d like to ask you: What writing pointers do you rely on when drafting legal briefs? And what writing conventions in the briefs of others drive you nuts?
Answer in the comments.
Read the answers to last week’ question: Have you ever had to break bad news to a client about a case? How did you handle it?
Featured answer:
Posted by Goldcoaster: “Bad news needs to be communicated as soon as possible by you—it’s much worse if the other side gets to gloat to your client. Think before you pick up the phone—know how you intend to respond to questions such as ‘why?’, ‘why didn’t you do X like I told you?’ and ‘what do we do now?’ Follow up with a thorough letter explaining the case, the hearing, the result, and your thoughts … with the consideration that you might see everything you wrote attached to a grievance complaint.”
Do you have an idea for a future question of the week? If so, contact us.
